High oil prices are at the root of high gasoline prices. And behind those prices is the basic law of supply and demand. In recent years, the world’s demand for oil has grown dramatically. Meanwhile, the supply of oil has grown much more slowly. As a result, oil prices have risen sharply, and that increase has been reflected at American gasoline pumps. Now much of the oil consumed in America comes from abroad — that’s what’s changed dramatically over the last couple of decades. Some of that energy comes from unstable regions and unfriendly regimes. This makes us more vulnerable to supply shocks and price spikes beyond our control — and that puts both our economy and our security at risk.
In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil. And that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home. So my administration has repeatedly called on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal — and now Americans are paying the price at the pump for this obstruction. Congress must face a hard reality: Unless Members are willing to accept gas prices at today’s painful levels — or even higher — our nation must produce more oil. And we must start now. So this morning, I ask Democratic Congressional leaders to move forward with four steps to expand American oil and gasoline production.
1) First, we should expand American oil production by increasing access to the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS. Experts believe that the OCS could produce about 18 billion barrels of oil. That would be enough to match America’s current oil production for almost ten years. The problem is that Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early 1980s. Since then, advances in technology have made it possible to conduct oil exploration in the OCS that is out of sight, protects coral reefs and habitats, and protects against oil spills. With these advances — and a dramatic increase in oil prices — congressional restrictions on OCS exploration have become outdated and counterproductive.
2) Second, we should expand oil production by tapping into the extraordinary potential of oil shale. Oil shale is a type of rock that can produce oil when exposed to heat or other process[es]. In one major deposit — the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming — there lies the equivalent of about 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil. That’s more than three times larger than the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. And it can be fully recovered — and if it can be fully recovered it would be equal to more than a century’s worth of currently projected oil imports.
3) Third, we should expand American oil production by permitting exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. When ANWR was created in 1980, Congress specifically reserved a portion for energy development. In 1995, Congress passed legislation allowing oil production in this small fraction of ANWR’s 19 million acres. With a drilling footprint of less than 2,000 acres — less than one-tenth of 1 percent of this distant Alaskan terrain — America could produce an estimated 10 billion barrels of oil. That is roughly the equivalent of two decades of imported oil from Saudi Arabia. Yet my predecessor vetoed this bill.
4) And finally, we need to expand and enhance our refining capacity. Refineries are the critical link between crude oil and the gasoline and diesel fuel that drivers put in their tanks. With recent changes in the makeup of our fuel supply, upgrades in our refining capacity are urgently needed. Yet it has been nearly 30 years since our nation built a new refinery, and lawsuits and red tape have made it extremely costly to expand or modify existing refineries. The result is that America now imports millions of barrels of fully-refined gasoline from abroad. This imposes needless costs on American consumers. It deprives American workers of good jobs. And it needs to change.
Urgent: House Democrats call for nationalization of refineries
Per Pergram-Capitol Hill
House Democrats responded to President’s Bush’s call for Congress to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling. This was at an on-camera press conference fed back live.Among other things, the Democrats called for the government to own refineries so it could better control the flow of the oil supply.
- Securing the nation (2,474 days unassailed since 9/11);
- Securing our energy;
- Securing our borders;
- Appointing appropriate judges on all levels;
- Advocating for drilling wherever possible;
- Yet, pushing for alternative energy sources including nuclear.
However, when he’s correct, he’s correct and I’ll provide credit. But, more pointedly: why so late?
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Exactly…
Why so late?
Head in Saudi sand.
Gotta stop doing that… I have had it with Presidents trying to kiss up to the Saudis, and as it is a global oil market, as so many point out, those selling oil have lots of problems making sure it *doesn’t* go to places they don’t want. The cruel fact is that the US supplies the majority of its OWN oil, about 60%.
You want to ‘wean’ off the foreign stuff from Venezuela and Arab gulf? How about some of that drilling concept? And oil shales in the US and Canada? Remember, every percentage of self-supply upwards is a percent not going to KSA, Chavez, et.al.
Can we get some plain old Nationalists to run, please?
Unabashed Pro-American President (be still my beating heart)?
Because that hasn’t described the two political parties or any of the recent candidates. One who won’t be reaching out to hold hands with the Saudis… who fund Wahabbi Madrassas across the world and have ‘al Qaeda High School’ in VA?
Please?
The Dems new cry is “well it wont do anything for prices today so dont do it”.
Which is partially true. NOTHING we do today is going to relieve prices TODAY. but it will later on.
The earliest anything we do today would be online is about 18 mos by drilling in the ANWR. Offshore drilling 3 to 5 yrs. Nuke plant 7-10 yrs. But if we dont do anything it will still be that far away when you do decide to do anything.
We are sitting on oil here too and no one wants a oil field in their yard.
Yeah Drill Now, BUT don’t drill 6 yrs ago…. NOW he needs to come out with some favorable views if it’s going to help McCain.
Holding my nose to my friend and checking the McCain/Whoever ticket.
We elect so many of these tree huggin fools into congress, and the results of this is quite predictable. If we want to allow drilling here we need to be wearing our congressmen and senators out with letters, e-mails, and calls about it, and against their attempt at nationalizing the oil industry, whichis nothing but yet another obvious power grab by these power hungry bastards. If people would look at the history of the oil business here, they would realize oil companies are a hell of a lot more friendly to the public than the power hungry rat bastards we seem intent on electing to our government.
Yes, it is late, but late is better than never, BZ. I believe it is now becoming an issue for two reasons: The price of a gallon of gas has suddenly sky-rocketed, forcing the issue, and of course the election. Even though Bush is on his way out, I’m pretty sure he wants McCain to win.
Incidently, McCain is reconsidering drilling in ANWR.
Gayle: he’s reconsidering drilling off the coast, is the last I heard — ANWR is still off the table.
BZ
It was an excellent speech and I’m calling on my Democrat Senator to implement all 4 points.